1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of pressure regulators and valves and more particularly, to valves generally used in in-line applications.
2. Prior Art
In many applications around the home and elsewhere, valves are used in various in-line applications to provide an on/off control for the supply of water, natural gas and other fluids to appliances and other devices which, in turn, normally have their own valve control system. In such instances the purpose of the in-line on/off valve is to provide an overriding turnoff capability in the event of leakage or other malfunction of the valve control system in the appliance or other item connected to the on/off valve. In many such instances the pressure of the main supply, at least as seen by the on/off valve, may vary substantially with time of day or operation of other devices fed by the same supply, or may normally be higher than ideal for the particular appliance or other device. In such instances it would be desirable if the pressure of the supply could be regulated and of course, since it is the pressure at the on/off valve which is of interest to the device connected to the on/off valve, it would be particularly desirable if the pressure could be regulated at the valve itself. Finally, there are instances where it would be desirable to be able to electrically turn off the valve to provide an overriding electrically controlled safety feature for either local or remote operation. By way of example, one might include a moisture sensor under an appliance which would sense the moisture resulting from leakage in the appliance to electrically trigger the turnoff valve before sufficient leakage occurred to ruin carpets and the like. Obviously, while conventional 60 Hz, 110 volt operated turnoff valves could be used, such valves would be wasteful of power, require installation by an electrician and would be relatively large and expensive. Accordingly, a battery powered electrically operable shut off valve is preferred. It is the combination of a pressure regulating electrically and manually operable shut off valve to which the present invention is directed.
Various types of shut off valves are well known in the prior art, as substantially any type of mechanical valve may be used for this purpose. Usually such valves are based upon some form of lead screw arrangement whereby rotation of the valve actuating handle through a number of turns may force a valve closure member against a valve seat for valve closure purposes, or withdraw the valve closure member from the valve seat to open the valve. While such valves could also be used to somewhat regulate the flow rate, assuming pressures, etc. are relatively constant, such valves are not commonly used for this purpose because of the lack of meaningful basis for adjustment of the valve, and the variation of supply pressure with time or other conditions. Accordingly, valves normally used for in-line applications to provide an on/off capability are normally used in the fully on and fully off positions.
Various types of pressure regulators are also well-known in the prior art, including both fixed pressure and manually controllable pressure regulators. Normally such regulators are provided as separate units with either no on/off capability, or an on/off capability only achieved by adjusting the pressure regulator beyond a zero outlet pressure.
An example of a pressure balanced regulator is U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,558 by Okui. Okui discloses in the first figure thereof a fluid control valve having an inlet and an outlet with a moving member between the inlet and outlet chambers. In the Okui valve, both the input and output portions of the device are pressure balanced, thereby requiring additional structure to sense the outlet pressure and control the moving member for regulation of flow. This additional structure adds cost to the device and increases the likelihood of breakdown. Further, the only shut off capability this device has is by way of a multi-turn adjustment of the regulated pressure control to effectively reduce the regulated pressure to zero.
An additional example of previous pressure regulating valves in U.S. Pat. No. 702,266 by Webb. As with Okui, Webb discloses a valve which is pressure balanced on the input side. The valve is relatively complicated, and not suitable for use as a compact pressure regulating shut off valve as is the present invention. Further, the shut off capability is provided by a lead screw mounted member projecting into the low pressure area of the regulator, thereby requiring multiple turns for the on/off control and providing an additional source of leakage in the valve.
Electrically operable valves are also known, the most common of which are solenoid operated valves requiring continuous power when in one of the two possible states. As such, such valves are not well suited for use as electrically operable shut off valves, particularly for battery operation. Examples of valves which are operable or could be made operable on shorter energy pulses may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,355,139; 3,995,651 and 4,098,284. All of these valves however, are of a mechanical detent type wherein a solenoid actuator releases a mechanical linkage retaining the valve in the open position, thereby allowing the valve to close.